Human Trafficking in [Trinidad & Tobago] [other countries]Street Children in [Trinidad & Tobago] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Trinidad & Tobago] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the early years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/Trinidad&Tobago.htm
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in Trinidad & Tobago. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Help needed for street children in T&T [PDF] Hayden Mills, Trinidad & Tobago Express, January 2nd
2005 www.ilocarib.org.tt/projects/childlabour/news/newspaper_articles/2005/exp-2jan05.pdf [accessed 1 August 2011] Gittens told the Sunday Express there were
basically two types of street children in She explained that the lure of
money kept them on the streets. By
begging and doing odd jobs, a street child can make between $80 and $100 in
one day, said James-Ransom. "Soft-hearted
women rarely turn them away," she said.
One street child who spoke with the Sunday Express two Wednesdays ago
said money was the reason why he had left Credo Foundation and vowed never to
return. The boy, who said he was 12
and named Arnold, said: "I went there with ah hundred dollars and when
ah ask them for it the next morning they didn't want to give mih so I take my things and gone." These children felt a sense of
freedom on the streets-there are no authority figures, no rules, no chores,
no responsibility and no structure to be assimilated into, James-Ransom
explained. More compelling was their
desire to be away from "a home" which, to them, was the source of
their problems, she added. But the
stark reality, as painted by WPC Elizabeth Daniel of the City Police, is that
children often run from the frying pan into the fire. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor [PDF] www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/tda/tda2006/Trinidad_and_Tobago.pdf [accessed 1 January
2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children in CURRENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - In August 2006, the Ministry of Social Development
published the Revised National Plan of Action for Children, which includes
specific goals for combating commercial sexual exploitation of children and
exploitive child labor. The National Steering Committee for the Prevention
and Elimination of Child Labor, with the advice and support of the ILO, is
participating in a project to withdraw and rehabilitate child laborers at two
landfill sites in Trinidad and Tobago. Human Rights Reports » 2008
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/wha/119175.htm [accessed 1 January
2011] CHILDREN - A lack of funds and expanding
social needs challenged the government's ability to carry out its commitment
to protect the rights and welfare of children. Education is compulsory up to the age of
12, and public education is free for all elementary and secondary students up
to the age of 20. Some parts of the public school system failed to meet the
needs of the school-age population due to overcrowding, substandard physical
facilities, and occasional classroom violence. SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d]
The minimum legal age for workers is 12 years. Children from 12 to 16 years
of age may work only in family businesses. Children under the age of 18 may
work legally only during daylight hours, with the exception that 16- to
18-year-olds may work at night in sugar factories. The Ministry of Labor and
Small and Micro Enterprise Development and the Ministry of Social Development
are responsible for enforcing child labor provisions. The Protection Project - Trinidad
& The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/trinidad.doc [accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Child labor is a problem in Local group on mission to rescue street children Verdel Bishop, Trinidad & Tobago's Newsd@y, December 22 2008 www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,92236.html [accessed 1 August 2011] Street children are often beaten, scorned
and neglected and are looked upon as nuisances. They are prone to sexual
abuse, infections, and drug addictions and although it may seem like no one
cares, Operation Rescue Street Children (ORST) is on a mission to save these
youngsters. “Public
perceptions of street children is ridiculous. There are some people
that never consider how these children, as young as seven and eight years
old, are left on the streets. It is of no fault of theirs. “We have heard so many horror stories from
street children. Some of them come from abused institutions, entrusted by the
state to care for them, yet these same institutions abuse them, sexually,
verbally, mentally and physically. We hear so many stories . . . stories
which we are sure go uninvestigated.” Govt must care for street children Keino Swamber,
Trinidad & Tobago's Express, August 25th 2007 This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 1 August 2011] "These children, who become young people, do so
without any sense of purpose or value to their own lives or the lives of
others, thus making this growing population of street children and incubator
for the development and nurturing of criminal activity." SEBA said everything must be done to generate a sense of
pride and self-esteem in these young individuals. Strengthen social services in Budget Rhondor Dowlat,
Trinidad & Tobago's Newsd@y, August 20 2007 www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,62686.html [accessed 1 August 2011] Street children who range from the age of three to
seventeen spend their days begging. At nights, they go to any of the parks in
and around the city, including Boys stay positive after fire Trinidad & At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 1 August 2011] Unstable families, homelessness and abuse are parts of
these boys' stories. They found refuge in the three-storey building on Nelson
Street in Port of Spain. And then there was the fire. It totally
destroyed the loft and top storey of the building. The boys' dormitory along
with all of their personal effects went up in smoke. "All they
were left with was the clothes on their backs," Sr
Roberta O'Flaherty, executive director of the centre, told the Sunday
Express. All I want for Christmas Rhondor Dowlat,
Trinidad & Tobago's Newsd@y, December 14 2006 www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,49144.html [accessed 1 August 2011] Since Kicks was seven years old he
has roamed the streets of Port-of-Spain. He ventured out after his mother died
of cancer. His father, Kicks said, was not able to raise him and six other
siblings. “After my mother died of
cancer my father got another woman leaving us behind. It hurt me so much that
I could not stay home, I had to go out there (the streets) to fend for myself
and my brothers and sisters,” Kicks said. Kicks described living on the
streets as hard, but said that “at the end of the day” he and the other
street children he made friends with, over the years, were left with no other
choice. “Yes, I too got caught up
with the wrong. I was introduced with smoking weed at age eight and ever
since I do it. I do not abuse it but I still do it, I really can’t help
myself, at least that allows my mind to be peaceful just for a moment,” Kicks
said. “I really do wish to change but
I desperately need help and I see other children my age that also need help.
I also tried to kill myself once because I could not stand the pressure,” he
added. “I wish sometimes that everyday
could be Christmas, the music, the toys, the decorations and most of all the
food. I sit on the pavement sometimes and look at children my age or younger
with their moms — hand in hand — I would then close my eyes and imagine I am
that child holding onto my mother’s hands walking down the streets,” Kicks
said with tears rolling down his cheeks.
“Too much pain, all I want for Christmas is my mummy,
that is all I want. I want to be held by her, hugged and kissed.
Having her in my heart is ok but I want her back from her grave,” Kicks said. Who Controls the Media and Crime? A. A. Hotep, Editorial, Trinidad
& Tobago News, April 24, 2005 www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/Editorial/240405.html [accessed 1 August 2011] The mainstream media only took up
the issue of street children after we broke the story here in 1996 by
encouraging the Mirror newspaper to publish interviews with some of the
street children. Before the story came out, people were condemning our claim
that there even are children who live on the streets. As soon as the
mainstream press picked up the story, they did exactly as the children
predicted; they ran a sensationalized story, resulting in the government
rounding up a few street children. In the government's view, picking up a few
kids solved the problem. The street children knew better, as they had already
told me that was the very reason they did not want the media taking up their
plight. The children felt they were better off living in the shadows of society,
withstanding the abuses that come with living in the streets. For anyone not familiar with how
truly gruesome it was for these children, consider six and seven year olds
being raped for fast food. One case I followed closely involved a wealthy
white male. He used to pick up a few children, taking them to his home for
sex. For this he would give them boxes of fried
chicken. One child, after having been brutally raped in a similar encounter,
was left for dead in the Queens Park Savannah. – sccp Help needed for street children in T&T [PDF] Hayden Mills, Trinidad & Tobago Express, January 2nd
2005 www.ilocarib.org.tt/projects/childlabour/news/newspaper_articles/2005/exp-2jan05.pdf [accessed 1 August 2011] Gittens told the Sunday Express there
were basically two types of street children in She explained that the lure of
money kept them on the streets. By
begging and doing odd jobs, a street child can make between $80 and $100 in
one day, said James-Ransom.
"Soft-hearted women rarely turn them away," she said. One street child who spoke with the Sunday
Express two Wednesdays ago said money was the reason why he had left Credo
Foundation and vowed never to return.
The boy, who said he was 12 and named Arnold, said: "I went there
with ah hundred dollars and when ah ask them for it the next morning they didn't
want to give mih so I take my things and
gone." These children felt a sense of
freedom on the streets-there are no authority figures, no rules, no chores,
no responsibility and no structure to be assimilated into, James-Ransom
explained. More compelling was their
desire to be away from "a home" which, to them, was the source of
their problems, she added. But the
stark reality, as painted by WPC Elizabeth Daniel of the City Police, is that
children often run from the frying pan into the fire. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Street Children –
Trinidad & |
Human Trafficking in [Trinidad & Tobago] [other countries]Street Children in [Trinidad & Tobago] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Trinidad & Tobago] [other countries]